| Show ‘ t"' 6A The Salt Lake Tribanc Sunday December 6 ¥5 V- - s? s -- - 5 Editor’s Note: Tiny Delowore on Dec 1787 became the first state to ratify the Constitution All eventually would fall Into line with Rhode Island the lost to on May 29 1790 But in the autumn of 1787 confirmation of o oovernment of by and for the people was by no means certain By Sid Moody AP Newsfeatures Writer Uncertain Americans eventually ratified their new Constitution by a landslide One boulder at a time Today’s TV computers declare winners before polls even close Voting for the Constitution took from 1787 to 1790 It was not a rush to judgment Three states initially voted no Pennsylvania poured it down the throat of an unwilling opposition like a mother dosing her child with castor oil Massachusetts home of the town meeting and a recent rebellion had a tense wide-ope- n convention Virginia had a name-callin- g d debate yet New York had a threatened secession Rhode Island in effect said no way Joee The Constitution won because for all its perceived faults its supporters called Federalists at least had a plan to remedy a crippled and almost nonexistent government lost because for all their doubts and fears they lacked a leader as well as an alternative Do it over again at a second convention was the best they could come up with The antis were hamstrung by the provision in the Constitution that approval by conventions in nine of the 13 states would suffice to ratify The g for the opstates were too ponents to form a national resistance Instead the antis fought on local grounds and issues while Federalists alternately picked them off like patient iurliey hunters or stampeded them into the barn like sheep Approval of the Constitution in autumn 1787 was by no means certain Pennsylvania was in the control of Philadelphia Federalists New York was firmly anti The Constitution would probably carry South Carolina But Massachusetts was a toss-u- p and in Virginia the antis seemed to have a majority Federalists in Pennsylvania acted within hours of receiving the Constitution from Congress in New York sent with no recommendation or advice on how to proceed The Federalists wanted to vote before their opponents principally in the backcountry could mobilize Knowing this 19 antis hid out in “Mr Boyd's house on Sixth Street” to prevent a quorum in the legislature to call for an election of convention delegates During the night a mob broke down Mr Boyd’s door and high-tone- ts far-flun- ’SJ " w4V'?'4i - -- W fcC5 Jj'vi’u! Zrk - v- ? -r r 1987 ia Was No Snap Shaky Process: Constitution’s 7 j Could they do without New York and Virginia? Virginia’s delegates began debating on June 2 in Richmond It was an all-stcast For the first time the n leaders: Patantis had rick Henry still a magnetic orator George Mason who had refused to sign at Philadelphia but had drafted the Virginia Bill of Rights Leading the Federalists was James Madison the theorist who would one day be called the Father of the Constitution Behind him watching intently from Mount Vernon was George Washington the Father of it the capitals of the seacosts and hated their merchants to whom they were indebted They resisted any government that would subdue their freedom and create a hard currency that would increase their debt Massachusetts Federalists feared that if the Constitution lost there New Hampshire and Virginia would also reject So unlike the Pennsylvanians they played for time to let their opponents talk themselves out They won a key vote to have the Constitution debated article by article A time to reap On Feb 6 Massa8 No 6 chusetts voted aye Meanwhile Rhode Island which had boycotted the Convention and been a burr under almost everybody’s saddle decided to submit the Constitution to a popular vote the only one it ever had The Federalists boycotted it The Constitution was defeated overwhelmingly 2708 to 237 Maryland was another swing state The antis were led by Luther Martin g marathon talker who a had not signed at Philadelphia The Federalists backed by Baltimore ship builders who envisioned enhanced business from a national commerce let their opponents talk themselves mit for four days while they “remained inflexibly silent” They knew they had the votes On April 26 1 No 7 Maryland voted for South Carolina was in an ambivag state lent situation: a far from the other seats of power Its ratifying convention in May had been debate in preceded by a the legislature the prior January In the meantime the Federalists centered around Charleston did their best to “sooth the feelings” of their opponents spread through the woods inland One of the first acts on convening was to hire a bartender to augment the soothing Soothed by whatever South Carolina accepted the Constitution on May 23 149-7- 3 No 8 One more to go Virginia meeting in June had hoped to be the kingmaker putting the Constitution over the top Added V:Y V ?'' :V u - i 'i y 7' ar well-know- tfc T&nstihitfotv 187-16- aU Federalist and principal author of the famous polemic o( the same name stalled for time He knew the farmers upstate where anti-federalis- m reigned would eventually have to get back to their fields Meanwhile the: press in New York City bombarded2 the Clintonians Hamilton let leak a rumor that the city would secede and join the Union if Clinton did not give f t in yNot up to an indefinite siege Clinton yielded taking as solace a found robin letter to his fellow governors -- ' - ‘ calling for another convention Where it was delivered — and Feder-ali- st postmasters were suspected of' seeing that some of the copies were'-not — it found its way to the wastebasket On July 26 New York accept7 No 11 ed the Constitution ! The debate lived up to its advanced billing The antis rallied behind the position that Virginia would give up far more than she might receive under the Constitution But it was a coalition of mixed motives The Kentucky territory had sent 14 delegates flintlock pistols and knives tucked into the belts of their rawhide jackets The antis played on their fears by charging the Yankees would close the Mississippi to trade in exchange with its Spanish masters for the right to do business in their home ports in Europe Time to vote On June 26 four of the Kentuckians joined 85 others in approving the Constitution with 79 opposed Only later did the delegates learn New Hampshire and not they had the honor — and leverage — of being No 9 New York was an anticlimax its hope to be a kingmaker outflanked by tbe calendar Its position athwart the states would however have been a serious impediment to any projected union had it stayed out Gov George Clinton’s had a 9 majority when the convention began on June 17 in Poughkeepsie They wanted amendments restricting a standing army and the Congressional power to tax They wanted to keep the fees from imports funneling through the port of New York in the state’s own pockets Alexander Hamilton to many The hard-drinkin- 63-1- slave-boldin- —AP Newsfeatures Illustration to her population of one-fifthe national total of 3 million this would give the Old Dominion heavy leverage But New Hampshire got there th first Her Federalists who once wined and dined an anti into the night to seduce him away from attending the convention had settled for more traditional politicking Since adjournment they had been stumping the backwoods They had won the support of farmers in the Connecticut Valley who resented New York’s treatment of the disputed Vermont territory for the moment independent with a constitution all its own On June 21 1788 New No 9 and Hampshire ratified 7 the Constitution was adopted This did not make the United States a sure thing If New York and Virginia voted no the nation would be trisected threatening political and economic unity Virginia and New York might do without the United States high-hand- ed 46-1- 57-4- Shop special Holiday hours Monday through Saturday 9-1- 30-2- North Carolina originally voted to reject the Constitution on g farmers misAug 2 Her trusted centralization deplored the'' lack of a bill of rights and as avi(£ Protestants wanted the Constitution- to bar “Catholics Jews and Muslims” from office 184-8- 4 far-flun- ' Congress went ahead without North Carolina and Rhode Island On Aug 6 1788 it set the first Wednesday of January 1789 for the ratifying states to pick delegates to the Elec-toral College to name k president The electors chose Washington the first Wednesday of February The government became operative the first Wednesday of March On April 30 Washington was inaugurated North Carolina now in effect a foreign state gave in on Nov 19 1789 and ratified 194-7- 7 No 12 Lonely Rhode Island finally voted yes 2 on May 29 1790 a year andli’ a half before the Bill of Rights became a part of the Constitution No 34-3- 13 The Constitution had carried the 13 conventions by an over-a- ll vote of 1071 to 577 : — AP Newsfeatures lllustroHaeW ' 0 :’x This Christmas give the handsewn leather quality of genuine Frye boots and shoes i :ps dragged two antis kicking and screaming to the State House recently the scene of the Constitutional Convention A quorum now present — even if two were tied to their chairs — the legislature voted 45-- 2 for an election Nov 21 The election was so sudden only 13000 of the 70000 voters eligible cast ballots To be safe the Federalists packed the gallery with supporters when the convention met Outside the hall the indignant Independent Gazette derided the Federalists as nabobs” Within the antis protested the Constitution had no bill of rights that the summer’s Constitutional Convention had been a “dark conclave” held in secret and had exceeded its mandate from Congress to consider no more than changes in the existing Articles of Confederation Why they demanded did this usurping document begin “We the People” instead of “We the states”? Because the people not the states were the foundation of the proposed government replied James Wilson a key figure in drafting the Constitution There was no bill of rights because most states didn't want one Wlson was a patient adyocate But his colleagues pushed things along by limiting debate only to the document as a whole not its separate parts Take it or leave it To the surprise of no one the convention took it on Dec 12 46 to 23 But k debate cost Pennsylvathe nia the honor of being the first state to ratify That went to Delaware on Dec 7 which one anti said “reaped the honor of having first surrendered the rights of the people” New Jersey “barrel tapped at both ends” by New York to the north and Pennsylvania to the west was also happy with two senators to stave off her neighbors and on Dec 18 ratified "? yt i ff ' 'At ' t 't V I ' Y i i “self-importa- I : UK' r-- m iWLmANVfmL A 1 Afcf' ' i“ti0 £’ two-wee- 38-- 0 - f - No 3 Georgia surrounded by real not imagined enemies was judged a sure thing even without a Gallup PolL “If a weak state with Indians on its back and Spaniards in Florida on its flanks does not see the necessity of a General Government there must I think be weakness or insanity in the way" wrote a Founding Pundit George Washington He was right On Jan 2 1788 Georgia became No 4 26-- 0 In Connecticut a delegate declared the United States was too big to be ruled by one government a common complaint Oliver Ellsworth a Framer provided a common response: “W'e want to try the experiment” On Jan 8 a majority concurred Connecticut 128-4- 0 became No 5 Massachusetts scene of Daniel Shays’ frightening rebellion a year before was next a state today's forecasters would duck as too close to call The rebellion reflected a nationwide dichotomy: independent-minde- d farmers of the inland who mistrusted L A Penny moccasin has full leather B C 13 uppers soles linings and heels plus cushioned insoles for the ultimate comfort Leather lined kilt and tassel moccasin with cushioned insoles boot with marlboro toe and heel finished with full In $108 rust $108 leather lining sole and heel in black mulehide or burnt cherry $141 and University Mall Not shown: Beefroll moccasin is handsewn and hand finished In rust Salt Lake Downtown full leather linings and cushioned insoles In burnt cherry $98 Not shown: Classic tassel moccasin with full leather uppers and linings and plush soft cushioned insoles Fashion Men's Shoes In burnt cherry $103 Cottonwood it § Si n i’ll farm” n n 1 |
